Just in time for all the visitors coming to town for this week’s NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Film Office launched a film locations way finder on an app and a Pittsburgh filmmaking timeline display in Downtown Pittsburgh.

The Pittsburgh Film Trails App offers a digital guide to where various movies and TV shows filmed in the region.

Embedded in the PastFinders app (once you’ve downloaded PastFinders, search for “Pittsburgh Film Office”), the collection includes tours of “Jack Reacher” (2012) and “The Dark Knight Rises” (2012) locations as well as collections of locations grouped by genre (thrillers, high drama) and one by title, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” (2019).

Plans are afoot to add more content later this summer. Links to download the app can be found at pghfilm.org/pittsburgh-film-trails.

The PFO and IATSE Local 489 also show off the history of Pittsburgh film production in a window display at the corner of Sixth Avenue and Wood Street in Downtown Pittsburgh. Featured productions include “Night of the Living Dead,” “Flashdance,” “The Silence of the Lambs,” “Wonder Boys,” “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” and “Rustin.”

Located in window spaces donated by Victrix LLC, the installation will be on display through this summer.

‘Basic Psych’

Filmed-in-Pittsburgh thriller “Basic Psych,” which screened at the 2024 Three Rivers Film Festival, is now available to rent or own via video on demand through Apple TV and Prime Video.

Based on a script by Fox Chapel psychiatrist James Tucker, Pittsburgher Melissa Martin (“The Bread, My Sweet”) directed “Basic Psych,” which stars David Conrad (“Ghost Whisperer”), Michael Cerveris (“The Gilded Age”) and Cotter Smith (“Mindhunter,” “CIA”).

In “Basic Psych,” a psychiatrist (Cerveris) treats a patient (Conrad) who may be a paranoid murderer, leading to a cat-and-mouse dynamic that includes a car chase that Martin said was filmed overnight on closed roads near Hazelwood Green during production in 2021.

Other locations included Schenley Park in Oakland, Manchester on the North Side and Towne Drugs Pharmacy in Aspinwall, which plays both a drugstore and the interior of a hardware store (Rolliers in Mt. Lebanon plays the exterior).

“We shot the back of the store for the pharmacy, but then we dressed the front of the store to be a hardware store,” Martin explained.

Other locations included Vessel Studio Glass on the South Side, where Martin met and later cast the owner’s daughter, Lucy Hine, to play the daughter of Conrad’s character in “Basic Psych.”

The film also has a baking class scene that might bring to mind Martin’s “The Bread, My Sweet.” Was it an intentional homage?

“We were laughing while we were doing it, because it sure felt like it,” Martin said.

Martin, who teaches screenwriting and directing in Carnegie Mellon’s School of Drama, said someone passed her Tucker’s “Basic Psych” script and reading it scared her.

“I’ve been teaching screenwriting for a million years so I always know what comes next, but this kept surprising me,” said Martin, who’d never before directed a thriller.

Martin’s next project, “Summerlings,” won initial funding through the now-defunct Steeltown Entertainment Project’s competitive Film Factory in 2015. “Summerlings” tells the coming-of-age story of two teenage boys discovering their sexuality in 1985 Trafford. Martin hopes to film a portion of the indie movie this summer while still lining up additional investors.

“Pittsburgh’s filmmaking community is really, really generous,” Martin said. “It’s a lovely group of people who are always willing to help, but it’s a really hard place to raise money. … The Pittsburgh Film Office has been incredibly supportive. Dawn [Keezer] is my queen. There are so many people who are pulling for this little film to get made.”

Martin said she remains keen on teaching the next generation of artists.

“They’ve grown up with challenges that our generation couldn’t even conceive of,” Martin said. “They’re going to be our next storytellers, and I want them to tell stories about Pittsburgh, and I want them to tell honest and pretty and humane, compassionate stories.”

‘The Pitt’ rates

HBO Max says last week’s season finale of “The Pitt” drew a series-high 9.7 million U.S. viewers through its first weekend of release with the second season averaging 15.4 million viewers, up 50% compared to season one in the same time span.

Independent, third-party ratings from Nielsen will be available in a few weeks.

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Channel surfing

“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” featured a segment, “Local Pittsburgh newscasters try to pronounce their ballpark’s new snack,” which included clips from local newscasts as broadcasters from multiple Pittsburgh stations butchered the pronunciation of PNC Park’s new “Boricua dog” until finally someone on WPXI gets it right. … Ryan Phillippe will join ABC’s “9-1-1: Nashville” in season two, playing “a seductive bad boy” detective who moves to town to investigate a mysterious criminal. … Julianna Margulies will join Hulu’s “Paradise” in an unspecified role for its third (and likely final) season. … Joe Buck will host the sports-themed game show “ESPN Jeopardy!” which will stream on Disney and Hulu at a date that’s yet to be determined. … Comcast’s Xfinity expanded its StreamSaver bundling options this month, which allows customers to select combinations of three, four or five apps from among Netflix, Disney , Hulu, HBO Max, Apple TV and Peacock and offers a discount from subscribing to the streamers individually. … This week, Xfinity launched its “Member Celebration,” running through May 10, which gives subscribers benefits, sweepstakes and exclusive experiences alongside special product offers. Details at xfinity.com/membership.